Crude-oil generator.



No. 764,531. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904. J.. M. KROYBR.

GRUDE OIL GENERATOR.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 27, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented July 5, 1904u dPATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. KROYER, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SAMSON IRON WORKS, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA..

CRUDE-OIL GENERATOR- SPECIFIGATIN forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,531, dated July 5, 1904,

Application filed July 27, 1903. Serial No. 167,204. (No model.)

To rl/Z/ whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. KROYER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Stockton, in the county. of San Joaquin and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Crude-Oil Generators, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to hydrocarbon-generators, and it pertains particularly to irnproved means of gasifying crude oil through the agency of the hot exhaust from an engine operated thereby, suitably commingling atmospheric air with thegaseous product pri or to its passage to the engine, and means regulating the direction of flow of the exhaust to increase or diminish the application of heat to the generator.

In brief, my invention comprises the provision of an inclined surface bearing a series of baffles or ridges to direct a stream of liquid fuel thereover in a tortuous path, exposing such stream Afor an extended period to the influence of heat, which in the form of the exhaust from an engine is conducted through a space behind said inclined surface.

My improvements further include the novel featuresl of construction and arrangements of parts, as will be described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawingsaccompanying this application, Figure 1 is an elevation showing my improved generator partly in section, with its connections to a liquid-fuel supply and to an engine to be operated by the gases produced. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the generator with its cover portion removed; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the exhaust-pipe, showing means of passing the gases therethrough to reheat same.

In the construction of my improved generator I provide a vaporizing-plate, as 1, arranged and supported at a suitable angle` substantially as indicated, to permit hydrocarbon fluid introduced to the surface thereof at one end to pass by gravity thereover to its opposite end. Ridges or bafiies, as Q, are arranged and supported transversely upon the surface of said plate, being successively oppositely inclined to a slight degree to facilitate the passageof the iiuid thereover and having each a clearance at their lower ends to permit the fluid to :fall upon the next .lower ridge or baille. Thus the hydrocarbon in its transit over the surface of inclined plate 1 is caused to traverse said surface a number of times in a zigzag or tortuous path, which retards its descent and subjects it for an extended period to the influence of heat applied to said plate.

3 indicates a source of liquid hydrocarbonsupply, as of crude oil, and i a pipe cond ucting the same to a settler, as 5, which latter is intended to collect any dirt or grit that may be in the crude oil, freeing the latter therefrom by gravitation or by screening' in a wellknown manner prior to its passage to the generator.

6 indicates a shield .or dellector, which as the liquid fuel is passed into the generator vdirects it in a fiat stream onto the surface of plate 1.

, In conjunction with plate Al a gasifyingchamber is formed with a removable cover, as 7, and the gases generated therein pass through a pipe 8, extended within said chamber, and a connecting-pipe 9 to an enginecylinder, as 10. An exhaust from said cylinder, as 11, communicates through a valve, as 12, with an exhaust-pipe, as 13, or through a passage, as 14, to a space, as 15, that is bounded on its upper side by the plate 1, said latter space leading to the exhaust-pipe 13, which communicates with the atmosphere. The Valve` 12 is an ordinary three-way valve, whose interior construction is too well known to need reproduction in the drawings. It is provided with stops 16 and 17 to prevent its turning beyond the full-open position in either direction, also having a lock-screw 18 for securing it in its regulated or adjusted position. The function of said Valve is to permit the transit of the hot exhaust from pipe11 either to passage 111 or to exhaust-pipe 13 or to cause the burnt exhaust-gases to pass partially in both directions in respective quantities governed by the adjustment of said valve. The delivery-pipe 8, being passed through space 15, is subjected to the infiuence of the hot exhaust, causing the issuing gases to be reheated in transit therethrough. The exhaust-pipe 13 is also provided with an enlargement 19, and an annular passag'e 20, connecting the pipes 8 and 9, is located therein, surrounding at this point the pipe 13 to further reheat the gases produced by the generator during their transit to the engine.

The heating-plate 1 is provided with a wall, as 21, to confine the liquid fuel passing thereover, and at the lower end of said wall I place a drain-cock, as 22, to enable the residue or ungasilied oil to escape from the generator. The wall 21 is provided with an outward iange, as 23, having' bolt-holes, whereby the cover 7, having a corresponding Hangs, may be bolted thereto, and thus secured in place over the generator. I also provide an air-inlet valve, as 24, secured in the cover 7 and adapted for the intake of a regulated quantity of atmosphericv air to mix with the g'as and pass therewith into the cylinder.

For the purpose of starting up the engine and providing the hot exhaust therefrom wherewith to initially operate the generator I may connect a cup, as 25, with a liquidfuel supply, as 3a, by a pipe, as 26, said cup being adapted to be heated, as by a torch or otherwise, to produce the initial gaseous charges for the cylinder.

In the operation of my invention when an engine has been initially set in motion, whereby hot products of gaseous combustion are exhausted therefrom, as through the pipe 11, the valve 12 is turned to direct said exhaust into the passage 14 up through the passage 15, heating plate 1 in its course. The valve 27 being opened, liquid fuel passes from tank 3, through settler 5, to the generator-plate 1, the shield 6 deiiecting the stream of oil onto said plate. The liquid fuel instead of passing' in a direct stream over the heated plate 1, by which action its period of contact with said plate would be insufficient to permit it to become gasiiied, is retarded in its descent by reason ofthe baffles 2, which cause it to take an elongated transverse zigzag path, thereby extending its period of contact with plate 1 sufiiciently to cause eflicient vaporization. According to the richness of the hydrocarbon vapor produced and the need for diluting same to provide a proper explosive mixture, so may a desirable intake of air be furnished by opening' the valve 241 for that purpose, and the gases and air commingling within the cover 7 pass in that state through pipe 8 to the engine. In traversing' the passage 20, which therethrough of the hot products of gaseous combustion, thus insuring' the new charge entering' the cylinder as a dry gaseous vapor.

Asis quite evident, the generator is rendered readily accessible by simply removing the cover 7, without involving the necessity of loosening or disconnecting any of the tributary pipe connections, which all communicate with the main body of the generator. In fact, if the engine be run temporarily on other fuel the generator may be cleaned without stopping the engine.

Having now described my invention, I declare that what I claim is- 1. A hydrocarbon-generator comprising a heating'member, means for introducing liquid fuel to the surface of said member, and means retarding its passage thereover, t0- gether with an air-inlet, means for confining the produced gases, and a delivery-pipe whose inlet projects through the heating member and is located within the generator at a point distant from the confines thereof.

2. In a hydrocarbongenerator, a heatingplate arranged at an inclination, a surrounding wall therefor, a series of transverselydisposed baffles upon said plate, said baffles being, alternately, oppositely inclined, and each having a clearance at its lower end, means for introducing liquid fuel at the upper end of said heating-plate, an air-inlet, and means for confining and delivering the produced gases.

3. In a hydrocarbon-generator, agasifyingchamber comprising a heating-plate arranged at an inclination, and a removable cover therefor, means for introducing liquid fuel to the surface of said heating-plate, means retarding the passage of the fuel over said plate, and an air-inlet; together with a passage .arranged parallel to and in contiguity with said heating-plate, means for passing the hot exhaust from an adjacentengine through said passage, to communicate heat to said plate, and a delivery-pipe whose inlet projects through the heating-plate and is located within the generator at a point distant from the connes thereof.

4. In ahydrocarbon-g'enerator, a gasifyingchamber, means supplying liquid fuel thereto, an air-inlet, an exhaust-pipe, a heatingpassage in contig'uity with said chamber, an engine-exhaust, a three-way valve to direct the hot exhaust from the engine to said passage orto said exhaust-pipe, means for reheating and delivering the produced gases comprising a delivery-pipe jutting into said gasifyingchamber and passed outwardly through the exhaust-passage, an annular passage formed exteriorly about the exhaust-pipe IOO IIO

ting removably tliereovei', of a liquid-fuel supply, a residue-outlet, a passage for the het engine-exhaust contiguous to said generator,

an exhaust, and a vapor-delivery pipe, all free I0 from said cover member but connected to and communicating With said stationary member. Signed at Stockton this 13th day of July,

J. M. KROYER. Witnesses:

F. B. HUBBARD, J. W. KINNEAR. 

